Safety Lever

Abstract

A safety lever for a firearm is provided having a lever portion and a coupler portion. The lever portion is to extend along an exterior of a firearm. The coupler portion extends from the lever portion and is to extend through a wall of the firearm. The coupler portion has a recess to receive a portion of a safety axle of the firearm to rotatably couple the lever portion to the safety axle. The safety axle is coupled to a second safety lever on the opposite side of the firearm. The lever portion is pivotable along the exterior of the firearm to rotate the safety axle to switch the firearm between a fire mode and a safety mode.

1 . A safety lever for a firearm, the safety lever comprising:
 a lever portion to extend along an exterior of a firearm; and   a coupler portion extending from the lever portion and to extend through a wall of the firearm, the coupler portion having a recess to receive a portion of a safety axle of the firearm to rotatably couple the lever portion to the safety axle, the safety axle coupled to a second safety lever on an opposite side of the firearm,   the lever portion pivotable along the exterior of the firearm to rotate the safety axle to switch the firearm between a fire mode and a safety mode.   
     
     
         2 . The safety lever of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the recess of the coupler portion has a non-circular cross-section to receive and rotatably couple to the portion of the safety axle. 
     
     
         3 . The safety lever of  claim 1  wherein the coupler portion includes a cylindrical body extending from the lever portion along an axis, the lever portion pivotable about the axis. 
     
     
         4 . The safety lever of  claim 3  wherein the recess of the coupler portion includes a slot extending through the cylindrical body transverse to the axis. 
     
     
         5 . The safety lever of  claim 1  wherein the coupler portion includes one or more grooves extending substantially parallel to the lever portion. 
     
     
         6 . The safety lever of  claim 5  in combination with a clip, the clip having a first arm and a second arm to be inserted into the one or more grooves of the coupler portion to inhibit the coupler portion from being withdrawn from the wall of the firearm. 
     
     
         7 . The safety lever of  claim 1  wherein the lever portion includes a lever body and a flange, the lever body to extend along the exterior of the firearm between the coupler portion and the flange, the flange to extend outward from the firearm. 
     
     
         8 . The safety lever of  claim 7  wherein the flange is curved. 
     
     
         9 . The safety lever of  claim 8  wherein the flange has an upper surface having a convex shape and a lower surface having a concave shape. 
     
     
         10 . The safety lever of  claim 1  in combination with a pin retainer having an arm to extend from the coupler portion to one or more pins of the firearm. 
     
     
         11 . The safety lever of  claim 10  wherein the arm of the pin retainer has a first section to engage the coupler portion, a second section to engage one or more pins of the firearm, and a transition section extending between the first section and second section to support the first section and second section in different parallel planes. 
     
     
         12 . The safety lever of  claim 10  wherein the arm of the pin retainer includes a first recess to receive a portion of the coupler portion and one or more notches to receive one or more pins of the firearm. 
     
     
         13 . The safety lever of  claim 1  in combination with a firearm having:
 a second safety lever mounted to a second side of a housing of the firearm opposite a first side to which the safety lever is mounted; and 
 the safety axle, the safety axle having a first end portion and a second end portion, the first end portion being the portion of the safety lever received in the recess of the coupler portion of the safety lever and the second end portion coupled to the second safety lever such that pivoting the second safety lever rotates the safety axle causing the firearm to switch between the safety mode and the fire mode. 
 
     
     
         14 .- 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . A method of modifying a firearm to include a second safety lever, the method comprising:
 inserting a coupler portion of the second safety lever into an opening in a housing of the firearm;   attaching a clip to the coupler portion to inhibit the coupler portion from being withdrawn from the opening; and   inserting an end portion of a safety axle coupled to a first safety lever into a recess of the coupler portion to rotatably couple the safety axle to the second safety lever.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein attaching a clip to the coupler portion includes extending arms of the clip into corresponding grooves of the coupler portion. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 26  further comprising drilling the opening of the housing to a size to receive the coupler portion of the second safety lever through the opening. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26  further comprising:
 positioning a pin retainer in the housing such that a first notch of the pin retainer receives a first pin of the firearm, a second notch of the pin retainer receives a second pin of the firearm, and a recess of the pin retainer engages the coupler portion of the second safety lever. 
 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 26  wherein at least a portion of the recess of the coupler portion has a non-circular cross-section to receive and rotatably couple to the end portion of the safety axle.